by Rhonda James

Tag: remodeling

One of the big struggles I used to have with my house was the non-working jetted tub in my bathroom that I inherited when I purchased my new house. In the first photo, the “before” photo was the picture I took the day I looked at the house. You’ll notice I replaced all the hardware to brushed nickel in the after photos, but I promise it’s the same tub.

For many reasons, I wanted to work with the tub as it is if at all possible. I love the large tub but I didn’t like the jets and the uncleanliness of them. I had stopped using the tub when I noticed unpleasant odors a few hours after each use. Originally, I thought it was the drain but upon researching I learned how water goes into those jets and stays stagnant. Each time I used the tub, old water was coming back in there. Ewwww, I just shudder at the thoughts! Not to mention I’d occasionally find a small piece of black trash in the tub which I’d chalked down to that it must have come from the old water pipes.

Figuring out which way to go with this was not an easy decision, and in my typical over-analyzing fashion, I researched every option. The option that was ideal (jet covers) just is not available. After countless hours and numerous days of researching, I found this question by a patron of the houzz.com website. Going through the 78 comments, I found a couple of solutions but the easier one seemed to be the door shield project.

I purchased 5 Door Knob and Wall Shields (3 1/4 inches) from Home Depot. Then I purchased 1 Marine Goop Sealant tube from Walmart and I was ready to do this.

It seemed crazy to put the door shields inside a tub but when I purchased them and took them out of the package, the hard plastic was convincing. “What do I have to lose??”

My tub has 4 jets and then the intake. I removed all foam backing tape from all 5 shields so that they were flat and clean surfaces. I made sure the tub and all jets were super clean and super dry. I took the Goop and applied it liberally to four of the shields. (Please be sure to ventilate as much as possible and/or wear a mask as the Goop is quite strong.) Then I adhered each shield to a jet. I used masking tape in an “X” formation over each jet to be sure it didn’t slide or move around while drying.

(Please note, the “before” picture was one I took the day I purchased my house. The cabinetry and the faucet and hardware were converted from the old brass/gold to brushed nickel so it may appear slightly different in some of the older vs. newer photos.)

For the intake, this was a bit tricky. The size was too large so I used a Dremel to cut the excess off and then sand the edges. It does not have to be perfectly cut, just as long as it fits under the intake cap and is large enough to cover the opening.

Then I cut the notches out for the screw holes on the intake, using the Dremel. I took a little off at a time until it fit in the opening snugly.

Then, it fit perfectly over the opening. (Please note, this is clean, but that’s some sort of adhesive on it. It was bleached multiple times.)

Since the recommendation was to allow the Marine Goop to dry for 72 hours, I went on to the next project, the intake cover.

Since the cover is full of holes, I decided to cover the holes with silicone sealant. First, I took the cover and squeezed sealant into each hole. Then I used my finger to make sure each one was full of the silicone and smooth. I made sure not to get any sealant in the holes where the screws go. I let this dry 24 hours and then I turned it over and did the outside the same way.

After 72 hours had passed, I caulked around each door shield, as well as around the notches I cut for the screw holes of the intake cap. I waited 24 hours for that to completely dry and then I screwed on the intake cap and caulked around that.

I’ve been using this tub for over a month with not one single issue noted. Not one whiff of an odor or one spec of any trash anywhere in the tub. SUCCESS!!!

Door shields were $1.69 each, Goop was $9.52 and the silicone was $6.32. Total cost for converting my non-working jetted whirlpool tub to a soaker tub was $24.29 (not including tax).

Sometimes you have to be bold and make a decision to try something you are unsure of trying. This one worked, so I had to share it in more detail. I’m so grateful to jasond7123 on the Houzz website for pointing me in the right direction. Hopefully,this blog post does you proud!

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This bathroom has got to be the most weight loss inspiring room I’ve ever seen! With mirrors surrounding the jetted tub, plus over the sink, you can definitely see yourself well! It also had wallpaper and border:

The paper and border was super easy to remove…possibly because it’s on paneling that was installed backwards so the wallpaper (because it was thin) adhered well and didn’t have the grooves from the paneling in it. This leaves me unsure what to do in here though. The mirrors appear to be installed with some sort of adhesive (maybe liquid nails or something similar for mirrors), so if I try to remove them, I’m most certain to damage or destroy them. Originally, I didn’t want them in there but the more I’ve been in the house working, the more I like them. However, what will I do with the walls in here…..

Here’s how it looks with the wallpaper gone:

In here, I plan on doing something with all that brass, painting the ceiling, doing something with the oak cabinetry and figuring out the walls. I love the tile floor in here and it’s in excellent shape, as are the tub and vanity/sink the best I can tell. But those walls. Hmmmmm. Oh well. At least the wallpaper is gone which will give me some time to mull it over as I work my way back to this room eventually. I could drywall it but then I lose the mirrors. No simple solution here, but I’ll move on for now to the next room. 🙂

xoxoxoxo,

Rhonda

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I wish I could be that blogger who is on top of things and posting with regularity, but I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that I may never be that person. It’s sad to me to admit that to you – and to myself, but it’s honest. Before my lapse in entries, I’d been getting quite a few new followers and meeting some awesome fellow bloggers so hopefully I’ve not lost everyone during my unplanned absence.

Life has been very hectic…and scary at times during the past few months but let’s just say that all things that were scary turned out to be ok and that all things hectic have only multiplied. LOL!!

In August, I purchased a new home! For the past month or so, I’ve been working hard on it to get it remodeled and ready for moving into so I thought I’d share some of the process.

Due to the “scary” health portions of my life between then and now (again, that turned out to be ok), plus some back and forth on decision making, it took several months before I actually put an offer in on the house. My cottage was built in 1959 and is a very strong and lovely house with all sorts of potential…and in need of all sorts of TLC. It was a lengthy decision to make in buying this house because of all the work I knew it needed (and still needs). In the end, I loved it more than I dreaded the work so here we are!

And so it begins…………

xoxoxo,

Rhonda

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This weekend has found us taking care of a project in our home that has really been bugging me. In our main bath, I’ve had a real dislike for the two lighting fixtures that we inherited with the house. Though there was nothing wrong with them, they are just very outdated and well, boringly ugly. The ceiling light is still there for now and it’s just a simple clear and frosted round glass fixture. The other one was a gold and wood bar light with 5 bulbs. What I liked about the old fixture was all the light from it and that the light was directed out and not up or down like so many fixtures are.

Over the past month or so, I’ve really been trying to figure out what I wanted in there. I considered uplighting, downlighting, track lighting…pretty much everything. In the end, I chose a fluorescent light that has a decorative trim on either end in a pewter type finish found today at our local Lowe’s Home Improvement store:

I am so happy with it! It is a beautiful brightly lit room now and I am incredibly happy with the look of it. Most fluorescent fixtures are true eyesores but I was incredibly happy to have found one I could live with. Now, the ceiling fixture will need to go next but for now I’m incredibly content with how it looks. 🙂